Manufacturing data continues its strong run whereas services had dipped below the 50 mark in December, indicating a more pessimistic outlook for the services sector. Today’s surprise in the data places the services sector above the 50 mark once again.
PMI data includes a headline number, indicating the overall health of the economy, and sub-indices, providing insight into other components that makeup GDP, inflation, capacity utilization, exports, unemployment and inventories. Financial and corporate professionals make use of PMI data to garner a better understanding of where economies are headed, to uncover opportunities.